


Wishing on the Stars

by MarvelousMenagerie (HiddenOne)



Series: 2019 WinterIron Bingo [2]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Anniversary Celebrations, Fluff, M/M, Secret Relationship, with a Touch of Bittersweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-15
Updated: 2019-06-15
Packaged: 2020-05-12 08:47:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19225714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HiddenOne/pseuds/MarvelousMenagerie
Summary: “I’d marry you, you know,” Tony murmured into Bucky’s skin as they danced under the stars.Only it's not a proposal. Their lives aren't that simple, and no one but the team knows they've been dating for a year.





	Wishing on the Stars

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Winteriron Bingo, square N5: star-gazing
> 
> Thanks so much to joanis for beta'ing the fic for me! Especially with those verb tenses as I'm trying to work more in past tense. We'll see if it sticks.

Bucky sighed in contentment as he looked up at the night sky. The stars stretched across the blackness, winking back at him. He ignored the beacon to the east that was the light pollution of Los Angeles, but even with that, the view from the roof of the rebuilt Malibu home was better than in New York City.

Bucky tugged Tony in closer and rested his chin on Tony’s chair. He followed Tony’s lead as Tony swayed them back and forth around the roof, though it had been Bucky to pick the music. Tony couldn’t be trusted not to sneak in some Led Zeppelin, which while Bucky was normally a fan, it was not what he wanted to dance to on their one year anniversary. There hadn’t even been an emergency Avengers call yet, so Bucky was already calling the night a success.

Tony’s breath was warm against Bucky’s throat as Tony nestled in closer.

“I’d marry you, you know,” Tony murmured into Bucky’s skin.

Bucky’s heart skipped a beat, and his hands tightened his hold on Tony.

“Yeah?” he asked as a bright smile took over his face.

“Yeah,” Tony repeated, voice still soft.

Bucky’s chest tightened, but in a good way. He felt like he could fly except that he was trapped in his body. Warm and content, there was nothing that could ruin this moment.

Tony tensed in Bucky’s arms. Bucky clutched Tony tighter, just in case Tony was about to do something stupid like pull away from Bucky.

“I mean, I would. I _want_ to, it’s just - like we’ve said, with keeping things under wraps. Not like, God, I didn’t mean it as some shitty tease, I -”

Bucky’s shoulders relaxed and he shook his head. He shook Tony then, too, a firm wobble that caused Tony to stop running his mouth.

“Relax, doll,” Bucky urged. “I get it.”

Bucky started their swaying again, wished they could go back to that moment before. Before Tony had to remember reality, before Tony made Bucky remember there was a world outside of them, outside of this roof, outside of their home.

Home. Home was actually New York, with the rest of the Avengers. This was nothing more than a vacation to quietly celebrate their anniversary, but Tony was here. Tony was home.

It sucked, sometimes, keeping their relationship quiet. No hand-holding as they walked down the street, no quick kisses on the battlefield. No easy defense to fight off interested parties, no pet-names in public, no casual touches of affection.

But, on the other hand, no press hounding them. No questions about why Tony was dating his parents’ killer. No interviews about what Bucky found attractive about the Merchant of Death. No hunt for the latest relationship drama. No sly comments about who else on the team they’d rather be dating (Thor, all the journalist assumed everyone wanted to sleep with Thor).

After everything - after Sokovia, after Siberia, after Bucky’s past as the Winter Soldier came to light - didn’t they deserve peace? After they had both fought, not only to protect the world as Avengers, but to build a working relationship with each other that had slipped from friends to lovers. Didn’t they deserve to protect those pieces of themselves and keep them private?

Who else could possibly understand how they’d managed to make it here? Not even the team had gotten it, at first.

Bucky would rather spend his time with Tony, having a relationship, then endlessly defending their romance to the world. Maybe one day they’d tell everyone. It might even be a wedding announcement then, but now wasn’t that moment.

Now, it was just Bucky and just Tony, celebrating their one year anniversary in Malibu on the roof, underneath a sky dotted with stars.

One year. A whole year.

“I’d say yes, you know,” Bucky admitted. He loved how Tony fit into his arms, how Tony’s body fits neatly against his. He loved how easy it was to switch back, giving Tony control of their dance. “I’d marry you too.”

“Really?” Tony asked, still tense in Bucky’s hold.

Bucky grinned. “Really.”

There had been a time when Bucky hadn’t hoped for anything more than civility between them. Bucky had wanted to give Tony space, after everything, but Tony had bulldozed over that and refused to let resentment or a grudge set in. The Avengers needed to be a team, and Tony was going to make sure they were.

They’d talked it out. They’d punched it out, a little, with Tony in the suit. Steve still didn’t know about that part, but Natasha had been watching in case things went too far. They’d spent hours ignoring the issue so that they could at least talk about something _else_ , something other than the past. Somehow, with all that, they’d become friends.

Then, in the quiet space of their friendship, something more had grown. Sometimes Bucky still couldn’t believe it, that Tony was here in his arms.

A whole, entire year. Three hundred and sixty-five days.

Bucky would promise Tony forever, right now, if Tony asked for it.

Tony sighed, the type of sigh that was the opposite of Bucky’s content sigh from before.

“Maybe… I mean, fuck the press, why don’t we just -”

Bucky shushed Tony before Tony went down that route. Tony’s mind was probably already on the freeway, back to New York City and reality, but Bucky wrapped his arms around Tony and hugged him close. Bucky wasn’t ready to leave yet.

Bucky hated arguing Tony’s viewpoints for Tony anyway. Bucky cared more about what the press would say about them, about losing this contentment and peace that they’d managed to gain. Tony cared more about what would happen to the Avengers, what would happen to the world. How the media and politicians might use this, neither knew, but Tony suspected that the Accords weren’t the worst of what the world had to offer.

Tony would lose political power with a public relationship to the Winter Soldier, and Tony needed it to keep them all out of trouble. Bucky cared, but Bucky cared significantly less than Tony, at least about that.

Too few people would agree, would know, about how much better Tony and Bucky are together than they are when they’re apart. They don’t need to know. Bucky doesn’t need them to know.

Bucky just needed Tony. He didn’t need a legal agreement or a ceremony. He just needed _Tony_.  

He gave up the illusion of dancing and squeezed Tony tight.

“Not tonight,” Bucky whispered into Tony’s ear. He doesn’t need or want to have that argument again, not tonight. “I ain’t got to be married to you to love you, or know that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I’m yours, and don’t need to prove it to anyone else but you.”

Tony snuggled into Bucky’s embrace.

“But what if I really want to see you in a bridal gown, hm? Show off those beautiful legs of yours.”

Bucky laughed, glad that the conversation was diverted for now. He was glad that Tony hadn’t landed back in New York yet.

“Don’t have to marry me to see that either. Happy to dress up for you anytime - in private,” Bucky said as his cheeks heated. They’d cut it too close, a few times, for needing to keep their relationship a secret. Not that he has any regrets about those activities.

“Going to buy you a dress, a white one,” Tony said. “One that shows off your thighs.”

Bucky snorted. “Doubt that’ll be under the ‘virgin bride’ section.”

“Nope. I want it short enough that I can see your dick hang out.”

Bucky tossed his head back and laughed.

“Easy access,” Tony clarified unnecessarily.

“And you’ll be wearing what, a full piece suit?”

Tony hummed and skated his fingers up Bucky’s chest. “What do you want me in? You should pick, it’s only fair.”

“Oh we’re talkin’ _fair_ now.”

Bucky took a moment to think about it, but there’s a specific vision that comes to him. He grinned and ran his hands down Tony’s body.

“Only got one request, and you can cover it up with whatever you want. Just want to see you in somethin’ special underneath. Somethin’ white, lacy. Full-on garters, maybe. Stockings too. Pretty picture, all dolled up for me.”

“I like that,” Tony agreed, voice rough. “I can do that.”

“Yeah? Well, I can do the dress as long as I can still wear my knives in the thigh holsters.”

“Yes, _please_ ,” Tony replied with a groan. “This sounds much better than a wedding.”

Bucky smiled, but it wasn’t a full-blown grin. He doesn’t need the fancy ceremony or the vows or the witnesses. Still, it would be nice to let everyone know that Tony belonged to him, and that he belonged to Tony. Maybe one day.

“Agreed,” Bucky said.

Tony sighed, more happily than before. “I’d still buy you a ring if you wanted.”

Bucky looked back up the stars and wished. He didn’t wish for a wedding - just a kinder world.

“I know, doll.” Bucky pressed a kiss to the top of Tony’s head. “But I just want you.”


End file.
